Remembering the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre

Share This Story:

21 years ago today, Israeli settler Baruc hGoldstein walked into Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque armed with an assault rifle and opened fire. It was early morning during the holy month of Ramadan and there were around 400 Palestinian men praying inside the mosque. The attack left 29 worshippers dead and 125 injured.

Photo: Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera

During the protests that erupted in the occupied territories in the days following the massacre, Israeli forces killed another 25 Palestinians and injured dozens more. Five Israelis died in the violence.

The Israeli military then divided the Ibrahimi mosque in two, giving exclusive access to more than half of it to Israeli settlers.In 1997 the city of Hebron (Al-Khalil in Arabic) wasalso divided in two zones (H1 and H2), H1 being administered by the Palestinian Authority and H2 (which includes Hebron historic Old City, home of the Ibrahimi mosque) being under full Israeli military rule.

“They took our houses and shops too. The soldiers threw me out of our shop and welded the doors shut.” – Jamal, a shopkeeper in the Old City near the mosque.

Around 500 Israeli settlers now live in the Old City (H2), alongside 40,000 Palestinians whose freedom of movement has been severely restricted. Many of these settlers have illegally occupied Palestinian houses and forcibly removed the original inhabitants. They are protected by thousands of Israeli soldiers, and frequently harass local Palestinians.

Photo: Rich Wiles/Al Jazeera

To reach Ibrahimi mosque, Palestinians must pass through Israeli military checkpoints and other various security measures, which have put many worshipers off going to pray at the historic site.